How are Aluminum Cans Recycled?
Aluminum can recycling is a notion promoted by people trying to live sustainable lives. Sustainability is the attempt to conserve natural resources and biodiversity by taking on certain lifestyle habits and the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Aluminum is one of those natural resources, and is considered the most abundant metal on earth. An empty aluminum can is worth about a penny (US), and over fifty percent of aluminum cans produced are still being recycled. Due to advances in technology, aluminum can recycling has become more efficient and convenient. Much like glass recycling, aluminum can recycling is a cyclical process that begins once consumers toss aluminum cans into their curbside recycling bins, where it is picked up and shipped off to the recycling plant. In the United States, aluminum can recycling has been an effective; approximately two out of three cans produced there make it to local recycling centers. Upon collection at regional scrap processing plants, the cans